Review - Rumor of Bones

Today I review the first in an older series.  I have reviewed books by the Beverly Connor for her Diane Fallon Forensics series before:  One Grave Less #9 (click here) and The Night Killer #8 (click here).  But this was my introduction to the Lindsay Chamberlain series that Ms. Connor also pens.  Let's join an archaeology dig in Georgia that turns deadly.

Author: Beverly Connor

Copyright: March 2001 (Cumberland House) 320 pgs

Series: 1st in Lindsay Chamberlain Mystery series

Sensuality: Mild - clinical descriptions of death, serial killer of children

Mystery Sub-genre: Amateur Sleuth

Main Character: Lindsay Chamberlain, Forensic anthropologist 

Setting: Modern day, Georgia

Obtained Through: Personal purchase

From book cover: "Lindsay Chamberlain has a problem. People keep finding bodies in shallow graves and bringing the bones to her. It's not that she doesn't know what to do with the remains. An anthropologist who specializes in archaeology, she is an expert in the forensic analysis of bones.

It's the bones of missing children, however, that disturb her, and lately she's had more than her share of them. Someone has been abducting young girls in the area for several years, and their remains have recently been found in shallow graves in a nearby wooded area. And Lindsay is asked to identify them.

A lot of strange things have happened since Lindsay and her colleagues from the Anthropology Department at the University of Georgia first began excavating the Indian settlement at Jasper Creek. First came the grave robbers and pot hunters, then the mysterious opposition that jeopardizes their work. After the shady lawyer who has orchestrated some of the trouble is murdered and someone attempts to abduct a nine-year-old girl, Lindsay finds herself in the middle of a crime that took place sixty years earlier. Because so much time has passed, it looks as if the murderer will get away with the crime. Can Lindsay provide the proof needed to bring the killer to justice?"

Lindsay Chamberlain, a forensic anthropology expert, flawed and extremely independent who has trouble asking for help.  I enjoyed her character and look forward to reading more of her.  Derrick is an old friend from college and colleege on the dig. He and Lindsay also partner for dance competitions.  I loved the dance aspect.  Frank is the director of the dig and he seems conflicted in his desire for Lindsay or Marsha from the nearby town.  Sheriff Duggan relies on Lindsay to identify the bones of children, victims of an apparent serial killer.  He is a great character, layered, tough as nails, but reasonable.

The dig site, among trees and near a river, is used to create an atmospheric setting.  I felt like I was camped out and part of the dig crew.  The plot begins simply and gets progressively more complicated.  The unfolding picture of a small town hiding a terrible secret is punctuated with the drama on the dig itself and sub plots of the character interactions.  

There are several scenes that are tense or gripping, the climax was more a police search and confrontation with the killer.  Although I tend to like exciting killer reveals, this fit the tone of the story and worked well.  The wrap up answers the final pieces to the puzzle and offers more closure. 

I like how Lindsay "time trips" and sees what the areas must have been like in the past in her mind's eye. This ability is useful in the investigation too.  The correlation of archaeology and criminal forensics is explained and demonstrated.  Characters are finely fleshed out with emotional depth.  The overall story remains as a memory you lived for a few hours.  I appreciate Ms. Connor's writing style and skill.  

Rating:  Excellent - Loved it, it had a good grip on me! Buy it now and put this author on your watch list.

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Review - Dying on the Vine

The first forensic science mystery series, Gideon Oliver's debut was in 1982.  This series began before forensics or anthropology were cool in mysteries.  Aaron Elkins has won an Edgar for "Old Bones", as well as a subsequent Agatha (with wife Charlotte), and a Nero Wolfe Award.  Check out his recent novel in this weeks review.   Incidentally, this is the final book in the Gideon Oliver mysteries.

Author: Aaron Elkins

Copyright: December 2012 (Berkley) 294 pgs

Series: 18th in Gideon Oliver Mysteries

Sensuality: n/a

Mystery Sub-genre: Police Procedural, traditional

Main Characters: Forensics professor Gideon Oliver, know as the Skeleton Detective

Setting: Modern day, Florence and Tuscany Italy

Obtained Through: Publisher for honest review

Gideon Oliver and his wife, Julie, are in Tuscany for an international symposium on science and detection.  Gideon is a featured speaker, but Gideon, his wife and their family friends, FBI agent John Lau and wife Marti, and making a vacation out of the trip.  During the symposium a recent case is used for Gideon to utilize in a demonstration for the class.  The body of Nola Cubbiddu, who the Italian police had determined was killed by her husband who then killed himself.  But Gideon blows all their findings apart and says it could not possibly have happened that way, it was a double homicide.  When Gideon finds out this is the case of Pietro and Nola, the head of Tuscany’s Villa Antica wine empire - and personal friends they were to stay with after the symposium at their vineyard, Gideon is in the middle of a hornet's nest.  The Olivers and friends stay at the vineyard at the hospitality of the heirs to Villa Antica while the case if reopened. 

This is my first Gideon Oliver mystery.  I don't feel I got a very good picture of him other than his skill.  I did like his enjoying the culture and food.  His friend and FBI agent JOhn has quite a sense of humor and makes an excellent side kick to balance Gideon.  Although the wives are on the trip, they are not as involved and have less "page time" than Gideon and John.  Rocco, of the Italian carabinieri, is an interesting character that you actually miss since he will not likely be in another novel.

Tuscany Italy is solidly described and provides a colorful backdrop along with the politics of the Italian police.

The premise is good and the story took me on a nice ride, but there wasn't as much mystery for me.  The science was there giving tidbits, and in the end there were only two factors that mattered, neither of them resulting from Gideon's findings.  The pacing was maintained as the investigation develops.  But this is not a suspenseful mystery with any sense of imminent danger.  It seems more like a traditional puzzle mystery when all is done, rather than a forensic police procedural. 

The reader has been following Gideon pick through the skeletal evidence, making it through types of bone fractures etc. only to have the police solve the murder without the use of Gideon's science.  Essentially Gideon's expertise only gets the case reopened and the bodies re-examined, Gideon is mostly along for the drama for the rest of the book.  That was a bit of a let down.  There is no confrontation with the killer, the police just arrive and take somebody away.  Very anti-climatic.


If you like more traditional puzzle mysteries, this will be up your alley.  Don't think Kathy Reichs or CSI with this story, because it is unique in its own right.  The science is only one aspect, ultimately Elkins brings it back to the basics of any good mystery.  Although Professor Gideon Oliver is retiring, I look forward to discovering Aaron Elkins other writings now.

Rating:  Good - A fun read with minor flaws. I like mine with a bit more sense of urgency.  Maybe read an excerpt before buying.